35 killed on roads during holiday weekend

The statewide death toll on the highways during Memorial Day weekend so far is 35 and is expected to rise, according to preliminary data released Tuesday by the Florida Highway Patrol.

Three traffic deaths last weekend were in Broward County.

On Saturday morning, a tow-truck driver rear-ended a Chevrolet sedan that had braked suddenly on Interstate 95 north, near Broward Boulevard, investigators said. The Chevrolet carrying two exploded in flames. Troopers are still trying to identify the bodies.

Later that day, Esat Kokah, 22, of Pompano Beach, crashed his motorcycle into a wall along Interstate 595, and the impact threw him off a 35-foot-high ramp, troopers said.

They don't know whether alcohol played a role in either crash.

Of the 35 deaths, FHP investigated eight were motorcyclists, three of whom did not wear a helmet. Three fatalities were pedestrians. Another was a bicyclist. The rest were motorists.

The county that recorded the most deaths was Palm Beach, with seven, troopers reported.